Captain Alastair Cook was left feeling “pretty good” after England finally beat Australia for the first time on their troubled tour Down Under.
A 57-run win in the fourth ODI in Perth ended England’s miserable record after 91 fruitless days traversing across Australia.
Man-of-the-match Ben Stokes hit 70 and took 4-38 as Cook’s side defended 316-8, their highest score in Australia, and avoided a record-equalling 10th consecutive loss.
Opener Aaron Finch hit his second century of the series in pursuit but Australia were bowled out for 259 in 47.4 overs to ensure the prospect of a double-whitewash tour was ended.
“It feels pretty good to be honest with you,” Cook said. “It’s been a long time coming on this tour. We know the series is gone but there was a thought of losing 10-0 – the prospect was there at the start of play. We played a pretty good game today.”
After the win, Cook said he wants to stay on as captain and continue preparations ahead of next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
“I think what I’ve learnt over three years as a one-day captain it would be wrong so close to a World Cup to change,” he said. “We are getting some very valuable experience here of conditions which we are going to play in during the World Cup. If I am still given the opportunity then I’d like to be (captain).”
After England were sent in by stand-in Australia captain George Bailey, Cook (44) teamed with Bell to get England off to their best start of the series, taking 73 from the first 10 overs.
Three half-century stands at the top of the innings provided a platform for a healthy score, ballooned further by a 71-run stand from 51 balls between Buttler and Eoin Morgan (33).
Australia’s Ashes hero Mitchell Johnson was not immune from the damage, conceding 72 without taking a wicket from his 10 overs. Left-arm seamer James Faulkner was the pick of the bowlers with 4-67 after he removed Buttler and Tim Bresnan from consecutive balls in the last over.
Finch immediately got Australia’s long-haul pursuit up and running with six boundaries in the first six overs, before first-change Bresnan struck with his fifth ball.
Finch upped the tempo and hit Bresnan for two straight sixes before repeating the dose in the same James Tredwell over. Matthew Wade was far less fluent, taking 42 balls from his 23, before pushing Ravi Bopara to Cook at mid-on.
Finch powered on towards his second century of the series, but England managed to find wickets at just the right times. Bailey was caught down the legside after Stokes correctly called for a review before Stuart Broad found a faint edge as Steve Smith pushed forward.
Finch brought up his third ODI century from 97 balls but when Australia took the powerplay he steered Bresnan to third man.
Stokes found another edge when Glenn Maxwell swung hard at home to bring out Faulkner, Australia’s hero in Brisbane, with nine-and-ahalf runs an over needed from the final 10 overs. But it was Stokes who had the last laugh this time as he dismissed Faulkner after he had made two to effectively seal a long-awaited success.
